Crisco

What happens if you covered your arm with a bag of Crisco oil and stuck it into a bucket filled with ice? You would feel nothing, like a sea lion in the cooler waters of the North Pacific. Do you think you can get yourself out of an alligator’s mouth? Well, too bad because at 3,500 pounds, the force of its bite is equivalent to that of a car landing on top of you. Those are some of the things that Glendale resident Anne Beckner learned while preparing for the L.A. Zoo’s World Music Night on Tuesday evening, which focused on animals from all over the world.

For most families, ham or turkey make up the typical holiday meal. But Sal Velasquez of Burbank prefers serving tamales on Christmas Eve made from his family’s recipe, a tradition he brought from his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. Each year the weekend before Christmas, Sal and his wife, Tasia Velasquez, begin the two-day preparation of the pork and chili sauce. On the third day, they have a huge celebration and welcome family and friends to join in assembling the tamales.

Robin Goldsworthy ’Tis the season —for spring cleaning. As the winter months dwindled to weeks, then days, I made plans for some heavy-duty cleaning. I do this every year. The idea appeals to me of delving into our garage to sort through all the stuff that we’ve accumulated over 28 years of marriage, including items from my late parents. Every weekend I eagerly watch programs on HGTV that show how easily you can clean out an area, sorting items into “throw away,” “sell” and “keep” piles.

ANNE LOUISE Maybe it's me ... but aren't there some things that you just shouldn't need to say to your children? Like "Don't hit your brother with the hammer." That really shouldn't be necessary, now should it? Not only that, it's dangerous -- saying it, I mean. My father overheard me say that to my daughter, and was, um, slightly alarmed. Fortunately, it was just a minor heart attack. He's OK now. By the way, before you reach for the phone and start dialing Children's Services, it was a PLASTIC hammer.

What happens if you covered your arm with a bag of Crisco oil and stuck it into a bucket filled with ice? You would feel nothing, like a sea lion in the cooler waters of the North Pacific. Do you think you can get yourself out of an alligator’s mouth? Well, too bad because at 3,500 pounds, the force of its bite is equivalent to that of a car landing on top of you. Those are some of the things that Glendale resident Anne Beckner learned while preparing for the L.A. Zoo’s World Music Night on Tuesday evening, which focused on animals from all over the world.